View report page

4. IMPURITIES OF FOOD. There have been during the year
a considerable number of cases where residents have complained to
the Department that food and food products purchased have been
unsatisfactory. On occasions the complaint has been that the food
has become unfit for human consumption either by prolonged storage
or by deficiencies in preparation. Frequently however, also, of recent
date, complaints have been brought to our notice of foreign bodies
contained within the substance of food stuffs and dirty containers into
which the food (usually liquid) has been placed It is always difficult
to decide precisely in these cases what action will be most successful
and general policy questions considered by the Committee in relation
to such cases have, as far as possible, been made on logical and distinct
lines, but it is none the less recognised that each individual case must
be judged on its merits at the time and no general decision can be
laid down covering all circumstances. The Department investigate
fully all complaints and from time to time it is somewhat frustrating
to find that after full investigation, when the Council wish to proceed
against the purveyor of food, the original complainant decides that he
or she is not disposed to give evidence, in which circumstances it is
impossible to proceed with the case.
This work would seem to be a duplication as the Public Control
Department of the County Council undertake investigations in relation
to the purity of food and the sampling of food, but one feels the work
within the Health Department is none the less most important.
5. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN CONNECTION WITH
FOOD. Legal proceedings in connection with food were taken on
five occasions during the year. One firm was fined for selling a loaf
29